The Duties and Responsibilities of a Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal lawyers represent or prosecute the accused in a given criminal case. When a person is accused of a crime, he may hire a lawyer to represent him in court and protect his rights and interests. In the same way, victims who want to obtain financial compensation can rely on their attorneys to represent them.

Because of their crucial roles, criminal defense lawyers are required to have a high level education to conduct their practice. They should be knowledgeable and have keen foresight to make judgments about their client's case. Aside from appearing in court, lawyers can also evaluate investigations done by law enforcement personnel and decide on the individual cases. Here are some duties that they handle:


Investigative and judgment tasks. As an attorney, he will exercise good judgment and knowledge of law in deciding how to handle a case. These professionals are given the discretion to determine whether the case needs more investigation or to prosecute right away. For example, a woman suffering from battered wife syndrome may have killed her spouse through a planned execution. Now, it is in the lawyer's discretion to prove to court how these circumstances can affect his client, since the defense panel could argue that there are other ways of counteracting the problem rather than killing the spouse.

Assistance in trial. Attorneys are also expected to help develop the criminal case and prepare all needed evidence. For example, going back to the battered wife case, prosecutors need to have solid evidence to defend their client's actions. In some cases, a district attorney can ask a criminal attorney to take a leadership role in one or more cases and prepare to argue in court. Additionally, a somekeyword needs to decide whether to pursue a case or prosecute it at trial.

Recommending other programs. There are cases where suspects or a person charged can benefit from pretrial diversionary programs. These programs help the suspect prevent incurring future crimes. Also, diversionary programs are less costly than trials and can even benefit the community. However, it is the responsibility of a somekeyword to consider if suspects are worthy of diversionary programs.

Negotiating compensation. Lastly, a somekeyword can consider conducting a bargaining or plea agreement. Attorneys have to consider the nature of the offense, justifying circumstances, or even the age and motives of the suspect. For more information regarding criminal attorney's duties, visit ehow.com.

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